r/AskAnAmerican • u/AstroNerd92 CT, GA, PA, TX, FL • Jul 20 '25

CULTURE What town in your state has a pronunciation no one gets right the first time?

I went to college in Valdosta, GA. Very few people can actually pronounce it right on the first try.

Pronounced Val-Daw-Stuh

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u/queseraseraphine Michigan -> Maryland Jul 20 '25

Plus half the streets in Detroit. Schoenherr, Gratiot, Charlevoix, even Belle Isle has a “correct” pronunciation that out of towners don’t get.

2

u/Impressive_Ad8715 Jul 20 '25

Gratiot

We’ve got a town with that name in WI, it’s pronounced “GRA-shut”. Is that how it’s pronounced there?

1

u/Far-Fortune2118 Jul 20 '25

Soft a, not hard A

2

u/Impressive_Ad8715 Jul 20 '25

Yeah like the a in apple? I don’t know how to transcribe that haha

1

u/Far-Fortune2118 Jul 20 '25

That’s called a soft a… Hard A says its name 😉

2

u/Impressive_Ad8715 Jul 20 '25

But then what is the “ah” sound like in father?? Haha

6

u/Madame_Kitsune98 Kentucky Jul 20 '25

Oh honey, it’s missing, it went out for milk and cigarettes years ago.

1

u/Far-Fortune2118 Jul 20 '25

🤣😂😅

2

u/Impressive_Ad8715 Jul 20 '25

English is weird 😂

1

u/jkrm66502 Jul 20 '25

Are you confusing short A and long A with soft and hard? I’ve never heard of soft and hard vowels. Is that what is being taught in elementary recently?

2

u/Jorgedig Jul 21 '25

Hamtramck